Mummy, My Friends Think You Are Cool!

Coco's school has lined up a series of post-exam activities for the P6 children.

Tuesday - Science Centre
Wednesday - Snow City
Thursday - Zoo
Friday - West Coast Park

I had charged the battery of a pocket digital camera for her and asked her to bring it to Snow City since it was her first time there. It would be good to capture some moments with her friends for the remaining primary school days as well. However, she told me the camera was not really allowed as Snow City had its in-house photographer to take pictures for them, which of course they had to pay for if they wanted the prints.

When I asked her to bring the camera to the zoo on Wednesday night, she said,"I don't have friends anyway."

I got a shock of my life and asked her what she meant by that.

She said that she did not have friends in the class anymore. By 'friends', she meant 'clique/s'. When she tried to join a clique which comprised of her ex-best friends, one of the girls rejected her by saying that the group of four was 'full'.

I sensed that she felt dejected and disappointed, and I knew just how important friends are to her at this stage of her life. And it would be quite a shame to spend the remaining primary school days without friends you can laugh with.

I also recalled how she had asked me to be a parent volunteer at the zoo a couple of days before. Perhaps it was because she wanted some company, or at least my presence could give her some solace of sorts.

I decided to go to the zoo. I met her after she came out of the auditorium at which an instructor gave the kids a briefing on their hunt for information at different parts of the zoo.

She told me she was being 'thrust' into a group, which incidentally was the group which rejected her as part of the clique.

I went along with them and helped look for information to fill up the quiz booklet.

Along the way, the girls were thirsty and I treated them to some bottled drinks which priced at $3 per bottle!

After the activity, Coco's group won the third prize, much to their surprise. So I offered to give them an ice-cream treat which cost $4.90 per scoop!

One of the girls did a calculation and showed me that I had spent $44 just to stand treat.

After the ice-cream treat, the girls went to fall in at the assembly point. Coco could have gone home with me straight from the zoo which was just a 20-minute taxi ride, but she told me she would like to take the bus back to school with her classmates. I knew she had friends again.

When she came home, I asked her,"Were your friends nicer to you?"

She replied,"Yes. They think you are cool and generous!"